Grow Avenue Traffic Calming Project

Slow Point
Traffic Circle

Project Overview

The project aims to mitigate speeding and improve pedestrian and bicycle safety on Grow Avenue between Wyatt Way and High School Road. The planned project components include implementation of affordable traffic calming measures such as neighborhood traffic circles, chicanes, lane narrowing, pinch/slow points in the road, signage, striping, and visual and physical barriers that lower speeds of road users. The project is also meant to serve as a counterpart to the Madison Avenue Bundled Project which will start construction in the spring of 2024 along Madison Avenue. City Council approved $95,000 for fiscal year 2024 in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for the project.

Recent Activity on Grow Avenue

The COVID-19 epidemic saw a steep rise in residents working from home coupled with a sharp increase in pedestrian and bicycle users on the road. In response to safety concerns the Public Works Department set up temporary delineators on Grow Avenue as a pilot program to both physically and visually separate non-motorized users from vehicle traffic and slow cars. Response to the delineators was generally positive.

Last fall the department conducted a test of two traffic circle layouts at Ihland Way and Wallace Way in collaboration with the Bainbridge Island Fire Department and the Bainbridge Island School District. The goal of the test was to determine if school buses and fire apparatus vehicles could navigate the traffic circles. Upon running the test the department determined a suitable traffic circle size that will not significantly reduce bus level of service and emergency vehicle response times compared to other traffic calming measures, such as speed humps.

Project Status Update

This project has been completed. 

June, 2024: This project is currently under construction. 

At their regular business meeting on April 23rd, the City Council authorized the construction contract to Liden Land Development & Excavation for this project. 

On February 27th, 2024, City Council approved the Proposed Traffic Calming plan for Grow Avenue. 

Implementation is planned for Spring of 2024

Fire Truck
School Bus

Community Involvement

A ‘Slow-on-Grow Proposal’ was submitted to the City by a neighborhood group for consideration in support of the project. The proposal utilized consumer off-the-shelf measures to slow vehicular traffic at key locations and presented an overall vision shared by some members of the community.

Prior to the creation of the project in the City’s CIP Grow Avenue was an area of focus for public outreach as part of the City’s Neighborhood Traffic Calming & Safety project, in which two virtual meetings and an online engagement were held to present ideas and collect feedback for ways to combat speed in the neighborhood and increase pedestrian safety.

  1. The City of Bainbridge Island, in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 252, 42 U.S.C. 2000d to 2000d-4) and the Regulations, hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively ensure that in any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, disadvantaged business enterprises will be afforded full and fair opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, or national origin in consideration for an award.
    Those requiring disability accommodations and/or materials made available in alternate formats, please contact the City Clerk at 206.842.2545 or cityclerk@bainbridgewa.gov.